Earl Van Dorn

Earl Van Dorn (17 September 1820-7 May 1863) was a Major-General of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Van Dorn commanded the Army of Mississippi in the Western Theater of the war, and he was murdered by a jealous husband in May 1863.

Biography
Earl Van Dorn was born in Claiborne County, Mississippi on 17 September 1820, the son of a lawyer and a niece of Andrew Jackson. Van Dorn graduated from West Point in 1842, 52nd in a class of 56 cadets. Van Dorn served in the US Army during the Mexican-American War, and he was promoted to Major after fighting in the battles around Mexico City. Van Dorn also fought against the Comanche on the Central Plains in Texas, fighting at Wichita Village in 1858. On 23 January 1861, Van Dorn became a Brigadier-General of the Mississippi Militia, and he became a Colonel of the Confederate States Army on 16 March. On 5 June 1862, he was promoted to Brigadier-General in the regular army, and he was given command of the Army of Mississippi to end the arguments between Sterling Price and Benjamin McCulloch. Van Dorn lost a large portion of his army at Pea Ridge in March 1862, and he was again defeated at Corinth in October 1862. On 20 December 1862, a raid on Holly Springs, Mississippi foiled Union general Ulysses S. Grant's plans for the Vicksburg campaign, and he came to command all Confederate cavalry in the West in January 1863. In May 1863, while encamped at Spring Hill in Maury County, Tennessee, Van Dorn was murdered at his headquarters by a local doctor, who accused him of having an affair with his wife.